Are you aware if there are there any water sources this close to the divide in September? Would you mind elaborating a bit on the route from Hay Pass to Photo Pass? How much time to expect it to take and details on the terrain could be very useful in deciding whether this option would be viable.
Thanks in advance.
With a username like you have, I should be asking you the questions!
That area is big, high ridgeline and you're probably not gonna find too much water while you're on the ridge. That being said, it'd be pretty foolish to camp up there anyway, so you are kind of committed to doing it in a day anyhow. Otherwise you'd have to drop several thousand feet off the ridge to camp and then climb back up.
I'm not going to provide too many breadcrumbs on an off-trail route (I think it's antithetical to the idea of "off-trail" and half the fun is mapping it yourself) but I will say that a route goes over the north side of Photo Pass and works its way up to the Divide above the Milky Lakes basin. From Europe Peak to Hay Pass a route should be obvious**.
If you're looking for more beta, I'd recommend Skurka's bundle. I planned our route before the Skurka Bundle came out. I basically planned it using Wilson/Dixon beta, Pallister's book, and random googling. A few months before we left I emailed Skurka, and he very graciously sent me a couple materials he was using to put together his Bundle. I was surprised at the similarities between his route and mine - I do think that for the most part, a workable route is self-evident the whole way, if you're focused on staying high, disregarding the trails, and shooting for amazing scenery. Not THE WRHR of course, but YOUR WRHR.
**note we literally got blown off our feet on the Divide in this segment and had to bail into the Milky Lakes Basin, where we took a forested route to Golden Lake. Europe Peak doesn't look harder than Class III (though I'd much prefer to ascend it than descend) and from there northward it looks very straightforward.
